Take action

To: Summit County Planning Department and the Lower Blue Planning Commission
From: [Your name], [Your address], Silverthorne, CO 80498
Subject: Public Comment in Opposition to Quikrete's Conditional Use Permit Extension — Case CUP PLN26-004

Please place this comment into the public record in opposition to Quikrete's pending Conditional Use Permit extension, Case CUP PLN26-004.

I ask the Commission to deny the requested 15-year term for the following reasons:

1. Changed circumstances. When the current 10-year permit was approved in 2016, this neighborhood did not exist. Today roughly 240 homes sit adjacent to a 151-acre gravel mine and concrete/asphalt plant. A 15-year extension would govern noise, dust, lighting, and traffic exposure for a substantial residential population that was never part of the original review.

2. Unmet 2016 commitments. Landscape screening around the lakes and Mining Cell #4 was required within 30 days of the 2016 approval and remains unbuilt; the applicant itself describes it as "behind schedule," with completion now pushed to fall 2027 / spring 2028. A longer term should not be granted while the conditions of the prior term are unfulfilled.

3. Unresolved environmental compliance. Black industrial dust accumulates on the frozen surface of Lake Everist in winter. Soil and asphalt stockpiles have been held past the 45-day mitigation window, and interior roadways lack dust mitigation, contrary to CDPHE Air Quality Control Commission Regulation 1. The recycled asphalt pavement pile beside Lake Everist has never been independently characterized through representative environmental testing.

4. Undefined noise standard. The application cites an 80/75 dB(A) industrial standard while Colorado's residential standard is 55/50 dB(A). No document states which applies at the property line or where it would be measured.

5. Traffic discrepancy. The CUP caps loaded truck trips at 450 per day, while the separate CDOT highway-access permit anticipates 670 total daily vehicle trips, including 520 trucks over 30 feet. This gap affects road safety on routes residents use daily.

6. Wildlife. State wildlife officials recommended limiting activity to 9am–4pm given the site's elk and mule deer winter range, migration corridor, and bald eagle roost. The applicant calls this "not feasible" and offers only a non-binding best effort.

7. A change in the nature of the use. Increased importing of offsite material for regional recycling moves the site away from a winding-down mine toward a permanent regional batch plant, leaving local reserves unmined and delaying reclamation obligations.

8. Screening, lighting, and grading. Equipment is stored at the property line without required screening, outdoor lighting is not fully Dark Sky compliant, and the "undulating" lake shorelines required by the original permit were never constructed.

Given a corporate record that includes environmental penalties in Virginia, Missouri, Oregon, and from the federal EPA over the past 15 years, and given that reporting under this permit is applicant-generated rather than independently verified, a 15-year term is imprudent. At minimum, I ask that any approval be limited in term, conditioned on completion of the outstanding 2016 requirements, and paired with independent monitoring and enforceable property-line noise and dust standards.

Thank you for placing this comment in the record for Case CUP PLN26-004.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address], Silverthorne, CO 80498